1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to signal switching systems, methods and apparatuses and more specifically to a signal switching systems, methods, and apparatuses for mitigating unwanted signals.
2. Background
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of signal processing with particular applications to the specialized field of audio signal processing as it is used in the production of music. Specifically, this disclosure relates to a class of component devices comprising a signal processing system for use by practitioners of the field of signal processing.
In many applications for signal processing, there can be two classes of signals; desired signals and unwanted signals. In these applications, the objective is often to separate these two classes of signals towards the ultimate goal of isolating and recovering the desired signals. In some signal processing applications, a plurality of signal processing devices can be configured into the signal path of the signal processing system. The act of enabling or disabling these signal processing devices during the production of a signal will often introduce unwanted signals known as switching transients. Switching transients are one sub-class of unwanted signal that can result from the signal processing activity, itself. Avoiding the introduction of these switching transients is often desirable.
This issue is particularly acute in the creation of audio signals in the production music. Musicians, artists, producers, technicians and others often use signal processing devices to alter the audio signals as they are created. These signal processing devices comprise amplifiers, synthesizers, digital effects generators, dynamic effects, filter effects, modulation effects, distortion effects, pitch/frequency effects, time based effects, feed back/sustain effects, etc. Creators of audio signals often cascade a finite number of signal processing devices together in series and/or parallel combinations and then activate these devices individually or in combination to create a desired sound.
While creating such desired sounds, these signal processing devices can be engaged and disengaged in arbitrary combinations at random times. The action of engaging and disengaging these signal processing devices can result in undesirable sounds known as switching transients that manifest as pops, static bursts, squeals, clicks, thumps, etc. These switching transients are not wanted, can ruin the desired effect, and are very difficult to remove once they are introduced into the audio signal.
What is needed is a “silent” true bypass system, apparatus and method, adapted and configured to minimize, reduce and/or suppress transient signals in the output resulting from switching from a first signal path to a second signal path.